How many SDKs? Red Bulls or Rockstar?
April 25, 2013 8:03 PM Subscribe
What do I need to be thinking about while organizing a game jam?
In August I am in charge of putting on a game jam in Dallas, TX [ah and previously].
The platform we are building for is going to be OUYA. We are working on a relationship with middleware company Unity. Presently I am organizing judges and prize packages. The theme has to do with space travel.
What I want to know is what I need to be thinking of. I have worked in other aspects of gaming—graphic design and narrative—and have plenty of good friends and contacts involved in gaming. The jam is going to be on-location (though off-site teams will be welcome), at the site of a larger summit with scientists engineers physicists. I am working to combine these two groups so that there is a sharing or exchange somehow.
There are plenty of models for game jams out there I find inspiring (notably, KillScreen's recent amazing CREATE OUYA-centered game jam, St. Louis game jam, and by extention Global Gam Jam. Also, of course, Dark Side of the Jam) but I'm looking for allies and accomplices.
What my company brings in to drive the game jam is a solid reputation in its (space-related) field and some strong science chops and some gaming cred. That translates into opening doors. Not propping them open but definitely allowing for picked up phones and returned emails and tweets.
So our game jam is 3.5 months away. Help, oh geek-and-video game developer-centric quadrant of Mefi hivemind, so that we can produce a space-related game for OUYA that is (at least) just near as fun and creatively successful as Strange Happenings on Murder Island.
In August I am in charge of putting on a game jam in Dallas, TX [ah and previously].
The platform we are building for is going to be OUYA. We are working on a relationship with middleware company Unity. Presently I am organizing judges and prize packages. The theme has to do with space travel.
What I want to know is what I need to be thinking of. I have worked in other aspects of gaming—graphic design and narrative—and have plenty of good friends and contacts involved in gaming. The jam is going to be on-location (though off-site teams will be welcome), at the site of a larger summit with scientists engineers physicists. I am working to combine these two groups so that there is a sharing or exchange somehow.
There are plenty of models for game jams out there I find inspiring (notably, KillScreen's recent amazing CREATE OUYA-centered game jam, St. Louis game jam, and by extention Global Gam Jam. Also, of course, Dark Side of the Jam) but I'm looking for allies and accomplices.
What my company brings in to drive the game jam is a solid reputation in its (space-related) field and some strong science chops and some gaming cred. That translates into opening doors. Not propping them open but definitely allowing for picked up phones and returned emails and tweets.
So our game jam is 3.5 months away. Help, oh geek-and-video game developer-centric quadrant of Mefi hivemind, so that we can produce a space-related game for OUYA that is (at least) just near as fun and creatively successful as Strange Happenings on Murder Island.
Best answer: You should watch Anna Kipnis' GDC talk on organizing MolyJam. It's been a few weeks since I watched it, but I don't think any of them had prior experience with anything similar. It went from joke to proper event in only a couple days, so you're way ahead of the game.
posted by Sibrax at 8:15 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Sibrax at 8:15 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
- Solid, open or password written everywhere, WiFi.
- space to work in groups, with whiteboards or construction paper you can pin to a wall and
- markers to use
- space where you can go off out of earshot of all the groups
- lots of power plugs
- free water and fruit/something healthy along with the pizza
- defined opening/closing times for the space, or explicit 24 hour availability
- defined entry - can just anyone walk in, do you need a badge, can my boyfriend drop by?
More specific - are you providing the ouyas? How many? If they'll need to be shared, will you manage that or let participants figure it out? Is it aimed at people new to ouya development? If so, will you provide experts? Will you have a quick start guide for installing the SDK, etc? Is it available on both mac and windows?
posted by jacalata at 8:44 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
- space to work in groups, with whiteboards or construction paper you can pin to a wall and
- markers to use
- space where you can go off out of earshot of all the groups
- lots of power plugs
- free water and fruit/something healthy along with the pizza
- defined opening/closing times for the space, or explicit 24 hour availability
- defined entry - can just anyone walk in, do you need a badge, can my boyfriend drop by?
More specific - are you providing the ouyas? How many? If they'll need to be shared, will you manage that or let participants figure it out? Is it aimed at people new to ouya development? If so, will you provide experts? Will you have a quick start guide for installing the SDK, etc? Is it available on both mac and windows?
posted by jacalata at 8:44 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by oceanjesse at 6:49 AM on April 26, 2013